Then the men of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within three days: The Jewish men fulfilled the instructions that they should assemble in Jerusalem within three days. The Greek text has the singular word tribe, although Judah and Benjamin were, or at least had been, two distinct tribes. These were the two tribes who had survived the Assyrian invasions of the eighth century B.C., and who had been exiled by the Babylonians in the sixth century B.C. The Jews who returned from Babylonia would all have been from these two tribes.

This was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: The precise date of the assembly is given. It took place on the twentieth day of the ninth month in the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes I (see 1 Esd 8.6). The ninth month was also known by the Babylonian name Chislev. This month corresponds to mid-November to mid-December, so the twentieth day was the early part of December during the rainy season in the middle of winter.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• So three days later all the men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin came together in Jerusalem. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.